(written by Islander)
The German black metal band Birkental started as a one-man project by bass player Raug after a band break-up during the covid pandemic around the end of 2021. He wanted to create a project to experiment with bass-only black metal.
The drummer Zlam joined the project after about a year of its existence, and from then on Birkental has been a two-man project with Raug writing the songs, playing bass, and performing vocals and Zlam playing drums and keyboard. After about another year, they finished a debut album named Peccatum Mortiferum, which will be released on December 13th by Void Wanderer Productions.
Today we’re premiering the first advance track from the album, an intriguing song named “Superbia” that furiously assaults with visceral power but also proves to be both gloom-ridden and eerily otherworldly.
You can probably think of a few metal bands whose sole stringed instrument is the bass, but not a lot of them, and even fewer bands who have played black metal that way at one time or another (Necromantia and Barathrum come to mind). Indeed, a running joke about second-wave black metal was that you could barely hear the bass at all, even when a bassist was in the lineup.
“Superbia“, as you might expect from what you’ve read above, thrives in the low end, not just in the viciously gouging and dismally moaning heaviness of the riffs but also in the ferocious punch and thundering throb of the percussive assault.
Other bass notes also muse and mourn during quick pauses in the midst of the attack, but other aspects in the upper range of the music also create contrasts. The vocals expel enraged, strangled snarls, and the keys cast shrill, shivering gleams, giving the music a sinister and supernatural aura. The timbre of the bass also rises, creating an unsettling wail.
Thematically, Peccatum Mortiferum “explores the seven deadly sins and uncovers the hypocrisy of the leading class and holy institutions… unmasking the swamp of debauchery and hypocrisy these ‘holy’ men frolicking in.” “There are no gods or kings,” they say, “only man”.
Peccatum Mortiferum was recorded by Birkental, and it was mixed and mastered by Marius Bornfleth. It features artwork by Timon Kokott, with layout and insert art by Void Wanderer, and a logo by Christophe Szpajdel.
Void Wanderer will release the album on cassette tape and digital formats, and they recommend it for fans of Urgehal, Koldbrann, and Old Man’s Child (2000-era).
PRE-ORDER:
https://voidwanderer.com/product/birkental-peccatum-mortiferum-mc/
BIRKENTAL LINKS (coming soon):
https://birkental.bandcamp.com/album/peccatum-mortiferum
https://www.facebook.com/people/Birkental/61559166213341/
https://www.instagram.com/birkentalofficial/